tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11034229.post8476787394977392476..comments2015-03-30T13:28:55.301-07:00Comments on retired doc's thoughts: If you get Universal health care with a single payer you better have a "safety value"james gaultehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05537303135780186926noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11034229.post-19404550036080217412009-03-29T12:18:00.000-07:002009-03-29T12:18:00.000-07:00That is exactly correct. The dilemma facing the s...That is exactly correct. The dilemma facing the socialists in the US is this: they clearly cannot afford to eliminate the private sector as they did for the Medicare-age population. A universal system of "basic" coverage will provide things that people can afford out of pocket anyways (eg. vaccines and lovastatin), and will promise things that it will not deliver (eg. tertiary care). The presence of the private sector internally or abroad will automatically outcompete the governmental system by promoting an internal or external medical tourism industry that will find the cheapest means of delivery of services really needed by people who will be forced to pay for them out of pocket. The recognition of the emptiness of the promise will be the end of system. The only resort they have in the short to medium term is to continue to make the private delivery of care as expensive as possible through regulation, but this will be difficult to do in a way that doesn't also increase costs for the public sector. What will happen in Britain will be instructive; The NHS will be the canary in the coal mine for socialist systems.Michel Accad, M.D.http://www.alertandoriented.comnoreply@blogger.com